The game of BINGO comprises one of the most widely known and universally played games. Participants play BINGO in a wide variety of social settings including homes, church halls, and casinos. Regardless of the specific form and nature of the playing environment, the rules generally remain the same. In order to play, participants generally need to be furnished with at least one BINGO card.
Generally, the BINGO card face includes a 5×5 matrix or array (five rows by five columns) of twenty-five spaces. At the top of each column appears one letter from the word BINGO, in order from left to right. In other words, at the top of the first column appears the letter “B”. At the top of the second column appears the letter “I”, and so forth. In each of the twenty-five spaces under the letter headings appears a symbol (or a symbol combination, including a combination involving one or more symbols). Each symbol is only used once in the matrix of spaces. For example, in the first column under the letter “B”, in each of the spaces, a number appears between one and fifteen; in the second column under the letter “I”, in each of the spaces, a number appears between sixteen and thirty; in the third column under the letter “N”, in each of the spaces, a number appears between thirty-one and forty-five; in the fourth column under the letter “G”, in each of the spaces, a number appears between forty-six and sixty; and finally in the fifth column under the letter “O”, in each of the spaces, a number appears between sixty-one and seventy-five.
Within the parameters set forth, the numbers that correspond to each column appear somewhat jumbled in order to maximize the number of unique arrangements for each BINGO card. As mentioned above, each number may only appear once on the matrix of a BINGO card. A common variation for this format includes replacing the symbol in the centermost space with a free space. In other words, in column three (under the letter “N”) and in row three, a free space appears in that space.
Typically, the playing of the BINGO game commences with the drawing of a symbol. For example, a caller calls out the particular symbol selected to the participants of the BINGO game. In other instances, the selection is communicated to the participants by some other means. Next, each player searches their BINGO card for the occurrence of the particular symbol that was communicated. If the particular symbol appears on a participant's BINGO card, the participant generally marks that space, for example, by placing a marker over that space, or by using a dauber and permanently marking that particular space to indicate a match. This symbol selection process continues in the same manner, with new symbols being selected and communicated, and then subsequently marked by the players, until a participant achieves a certain arrangement of matches, including but not limited to, matches in either a horizontal, vertical, or diagonal row on the BINGO card in the case of a single line game. At this point, the participant that achieved such arrangement shouts out “BINGO” and wins the game, along with any associated prize if applicable.
While the game of BINGO proves fascinating to many, certain limitations do exist. One such limitation involves not being able to know how the game is progressing as more and more symbols are called. In turn, the participants have no idea when a certain number is going to produce a winner. As such, it is easy to lose interest even while playing if your specific symbols are not being called consistently.